Groundwork Hertfordshire To Win £1.5 Million

Groundwork Hertfordshire has just learned that it will receive £1.5 million in the People's Millions lottery vote. It was announced live this week on GMTV that Groundwork won the bid between 3 charities and their celebrity supporter Tommy Walsh was there to lend his support again.

The money will be used to transform 25 deprived community spaces into thriving resources for everyone to enjoy. The projects are all designed to bring communities together, to cut down on crime and anti-social behaviour and to give everyone in the community a voice on how their local spaces are used. In some communities we will be building better sports facilities for young people, in some we will create community gardens and open spaces and some will involve improved community centres. But in all cases the main idea is to help local people have a say in improving their local facilities.

One of the projects to be funded is on the Grange estate in Letchworth and this funding means Groundwork can get on with turning two empty spaces on the estate into a community resource. The first thing to be done later on this month is a wider community consultation with residents, asking everyone what facilties would improve the estate. From there Groundwork can get on with designs and starting the practical work and we hope to complete the project by March 2007. They would like to thank everyone who voted, Tommy Walsh for his support, North Hertfordshire Homes and North Hertfordshire Council for being our project partners on this work.